Shen Fu's reflections on his life as a magistrate's secretary, a loving husband, a painter and an unsuccessful tradesman were written in 1809 and have been a Chinese favourite ever since. Many themes explored in the memoirs give today's reader new insights into Chinese society: the powerful role of the courtesan, the unrecognized status of the government clerk, the arrogance of the untrained officials and the formal and often strained family relationships and arranged marriages. Shen Fu himself had a difficult life and was ill-equipped to cope with it. Many of the problems he encountered have their parallels in contemporary society and, as the translators point out in their Introduction, 'Shen Fu has left us a lively portrait of his era that in places strikes chords remarkably resonant with our own.'